A former Deputy Chief Registrar of the Oyo State High Court, Mutiat Adio has been sent to prison for three years after she was convicted for issuing a dud cheque.
This was disclosed in a statement issued Monday by the spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwajuren.
The statement said that the Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC secured her conviction on Friday.
According to the statement, Adio was convicted after pleading guilty to a fresh charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretense and issuance of dishonored cheque contrary to sections 419 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000 and Section 1 (1) (b) of the Dishonored Cheque (Offences) Act, Cap. D11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Adio was said to have obtained a 2000 model Toyota Pathfinder SUV valued at N1.5 million from one Fabunmi Samuel of Fatai Olanrewaju Motors by pretending to him that it would be paid for once the cheque is presented to her bank.
The victim reportedly released the said vehicle to her but the cheque was dishonoured within three months of issuance for insufficient funds in the account.
The statement further disclosed that when she was arraigned on January 30, 2018, the convict initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but later changed her plea to ‘guilty’, after a plea bargain agreement leading to the amendment of the charge.
The trial judge, Justice Owolabi, in his judgment, pronounced the defendant guilty of the offence and sentenced her to three years in prison.
She was also ordered to restitute to her victim the sum of N500,000 in addition to the sum of N1m she had previously paid in restitution to the victim.
“With the latest development, Adio completes a hat-trick of convictions having previously been jailed twice for fraud On May 18, 2018, when she was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for obtaining N9.2m from one Abiodun Olonade, a Nigerian resident in Ireland, by false pretence.
“Also, on March 6, 2020, she was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a sum of N22.3m from Guaranty Bank Plc”, the statement read in part. (Theconclaveng)
